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Hello! I'm about to make my first sales forecast ever (which I believe will influence my entire online retailing model? https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AmY3HgUDDM9kdFFVa3dMUzVlU25fV3RldnlsNmRvNmc), but where do I begin? Basically I have:1. One year of sales data from my biggest competitor (what items were sold, from which country the buyers came from, and the dates of the purchases)1.1. I do not have the prices of the items sold - but I might be able to get them. Should I?2. Three years of market growth data (how many potential customers, and how much this number has grown to present date)3. The various economic indicators in my Peer Company Comparison https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AmY3HgUDDM9kdHc0b2owb3ZtQlI1aFdNVl9jLXRpNFEI have no idea where to start though. How to unite all of these "factors" into a clean, accurate formula or algorithm or whatever? Thanks in advance!Mikkel

Hey! I'm about to buy http://www.bizminer.com/industries/Office-Supplies-Stationery-and-Gift-Stores-4532/ so I have some data for my Peer Company Comparisons https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AmY3HgUDDM9kdHc0b2owb3ZtQlI1aFdNVl9jLXRpNFE - but what sales class should I choose (for my online retail startup)?Should I choose $0.4m because, naturally, this is where I'll be initially? Or any of the higher classes as this is where I aspire to be?I read somewhere that: "When selecting peer companies, you need to consider how many years have they been in business. The financial measures of a company that has been in business for 10 years is likely to be considerable different than a startup. For example, a startup's Sales & marketing expenses, as a % of revenue, should be considerable greater than a mature company. In that case you should consider the peer company's measures as a target that you may reach in year 5."But BizMiner doesn't let me choose years - only sales classes. But isn't it possible that many of the analyzed companies that have been in business for over 10 years somehow lost their way and are now down to their knees with $0.4m, whereas many startups who came correct are now at $250m? Maybe it's best to choose "all sales classes" then?Many thanks!Mikkel

Hey! I have these two worksheets https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AmY3HgUDDM9kdGhwUnF0b19LMjRFTjFWcFN0MUJjbEE (VAL-1 & VAL-2) for estimating the value of my startup based on the Venture Capital Method - but I'm curious, what's the A, B, C, D, etc. about?Are they just there for people who don't want to click on the cells to see the actual formulas?Since they don't make much sense to me - would it be safe to just take them out (for the sake of simplicity)?Thank you!Mikkel

Hello! At my Purchases spreadsheet https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AmY3HgUDDM9kdEs1Tzg0cE92T2x3MEtwX0NrQk9pR2c - can anybody recommend a way of calculating when it's time to get more packaging material and photographs - and how to best model this in my spreadsheet?Thank y'all so much!MikkelP.S. Anyone can edit this document.